Sub-to-super-Poissonian photon statistics in cathodoluminescence of color center ensembles in isolated diamond crystals

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that cathodoluminescence of color center ensembles in diamond can produce photon statistics that are tunable and can be both sub- and super-Poissonian, offering a controllable room-temperature quantum light source.

Contribution

The study provides experimental evidence that electron-beam excitation can control photon emission statistics in diamond color center ensembles, enabling tunable quantum light sources.

Findings

Photon statistics can be tuned above and below unity (g2(0))

Electron-beam excitation synchronizes emitters

Potential for room-temperature quantum information applications

Abstract

Impurity-vacancy centers in diamond offer a new class of robust photon sources with versatile quantum properties. While individual color centers commonly act as single-photon sources, their ensembles have been theoretically predicted to have tunable photon-emission statistics. Importantly, the particular type of excitation affects the emission properties of a color center ensemble within a diamond crystal. While optical excitation favors non-synchronized excitation of color centers within an ensemble, electron-beam excitation can synchronize the emitters and thereby provides a control of the second-order correlation function $g_2(0)$. In this letter, we demonstrate experimentally that the photon stream from an ensemble of color centers can exhibit $g_2(0)$ both above and below unity. Such a photon source based on an ensemble of few color centers in a diamond crystal provides a highly tunable platform for informational technologies operating at room temperature.